Man killed by teen video gamers

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Quote[/b] ]Man Killed by Teen Video Gamers

From CNN news:

NEWPORT, Tenn. (AP) - Two teenage stepbrothers who told police they were mimicking a video game when they randomly fired at cars on a freeway were sentenced to juvenile prison Thursday for killing one person and wounding another.

William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, who turns 14 Sunday, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault. Under state law, they can only be held as juveniles until they are 19.

Juvenile Court Judge Ben Strand said he considered granting the boys probation, but said, ``I just can't bring myself to do that because it was a grievous act.''

Kimberly Bede, who was wounded in the June 25 attack, said the sentence was not harsh enough.

``I really don't think they got what they deserve,'' said Bede, 19.

From a wooded area near their home at the Smoky Mountain Country Club, the boys fired a .22-caliber rifle up to 25 times through a break in the trees at cars driving along Interstate 40 about two miles east of Newport. They said they were bored and decided to shoot at tractor-trailer rigs, just like in the video game, ``Grand Theft Auto.''

Aaron Hamel, 45, a registered nurse who had recently moved to Knoxville, was fatally shot in the head as he returned from a day in the mountains. Minutes later, Bede, of Moneta, Va., a passenger on a sightseeing drive, was wounded in the pelvis.

The boys wrote letters to apologize to the victims' families that were read in court Thursday.

``I didn't want to hurt anyone,'' Joshua wrote. ``This will stick with me the rest of my life.''

It was posted at:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,7819043~root=ps2~mode=flat

I also did a search on google, and found this:

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=1420684

Now that is stupid thing to do.

Now this makes games look bad.

[SpecOp9 0]

Figures, I just sent a message to ESRB 2 days ago syaing how stupid it is.

I guess these kids are even more dumb.

Fun to guess what videogame it was....

Shooting cars on a freeway.

I smell Grand Theft Auto,

or Mafia.

[theavonlady 2]

Someone just made an OFP video of people jumping en-mass off of buildings. Hmmmmm...............................

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Next thing you know, they'll be blamin Americas Army again.

[Major Fubar 0]

The headline should actually read like this:

"Man Killed by Teens Who's Parents Never Bothered to Teach Them the Value of Human Life and Basic Moral Values"

...or...

"Man Killed by Teens With Defective Brains Looking to Lay Blame on Something Else - As Per Usual"

...or even...

"Man Killed by Defective Teens - Calls for Human Breeding Licenses Renewed"

...seriously, people have been trying to lay blame on everything else but the real problems forever and a day, if it's not Video games causing kids to kill people, it's roadrunner cartoon making kids drop anvils of bridges or something. You can blame the games or TV or movies or music or whatever else, but most kids know better than to go shooting at people. I'd be very interested in what kind of upbringing these kids had - if I were a gambling man, I'd bet on neglectful parent(s) who let the kids run amok from an early age and never bothered to sufficiently discipline them or teach them core moral values. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that a kid who has been "raised right" knows better than to go shooting at people no matter what they see in a game.

Just another example of how society loves the quick fix, or in this case, the quick blame. Much easier to waggle a finger at a video game manufacturer than to question why parents aren't doing their job at raising their children to be respectful of human life.

[Eaglesionu 0]

If Someone Cant tell the difference between reality and a video game then they need to be in jail or a mental institute. Too many people think games corrupt kids into killing, but those kids have to be sane in the first place.

I love GTA 3 AND Vice City, but that dosnt mean im going to go kill some people because i did it in a video game. ARRGGGGGGG.

[Drill Sergeant 0]

Exactly. Thiers a difference between military/police trainers trainers and killing sprees in the book "Stop teaching our kids to kill." The Woman who is mostly the athor said that it's ok for it to war (It's still some what questionable.) and shuch because you need to follow the ROEs and use commin sence its a simple as a fary tale really badguys loose. (Most of the Time.) because of the simple fact that pepole are not in a war zone and people arn't shooting back at them every day.

Now if some one was tring to shell your house you would have the right to fire back. But Thier is a difference between self defence and killing sprees. In some popular non military games (Ie non military will include all games even on a military base that do not include squad action or structure.) Where the point of the game is "Last man standing or The person with the most frags (Kills) is the winner. Where as in some games people are rewarded for thier killings be it monew or a woman. That's not how it works people need to understand that.

Thier is a very very fine line between aceptable violence (war games and such were the objective is lagitamet not just a here's some guns go see how much dammage you can do.)

This also brings up a point if people want to shoot something go do it on the computer not outside. Parental guideance is always a part too. They need to teach that we should have reverence for human life. But you can't just go and point at one game and say all other games where you shoot are evil.

Seriosly is it incorrect to go shoot some Spetz Natz and a roge general? Or on the flip side a bunch of imperialists? Actualy I don't belive it's wrong. But is it right to go and punch a cop to death than take his bily club and go abduct a woman and take her car? That I say is definitly wrong. ( I have played GTA 3 for like 1 minute at a cousins house but I just shut it off and went and played SEALS SOCOM. Because #1 I knew SEALS was much funner and realistic (Ie you don't go around speeding with women and cars without any consiquence.PS I never even got a car I was run over like 2 times and than gave up playing.) And I didn't feel bad about shooting some terrorists who were blasting away at me whith AK47s. Now standing on a free way with your girl and an UZI seeing how many cars you can blow up isn't right.(Like I said I gave up after about a minutes worth of play but I have heard about that shooting cars is part of a level of GTA3.)

Seriously we need to have thsoe games clearly labled They (Games with no real objective.) Should be labled under crime.

War games like OFP and the wonderful DF serries should be labled under WAR. With different warnings on each. I am Shure if they traced back any games these guys were playing I can almost guarantee you that it won't be any war category game like OFP or DF simply because these games arn't any

fun because if you get out of line you are punished for it.

And I am very very shure you won't be able to trace it back to ANY of the SWAT line of games or any law enforcement typo simply because of one thing. Rules. & Discipline.

So we need to opt for games to be clasifed and labled.

IE OFP,DF Mil Flight sims (WAR) GTA3 (Crime) SWAT 3 (Law inforcement.)

Sims, Flight sims, (Urban contemp)

So I guess I'll go step of my soap box now. Sorry for the long rant.

[Major Fubar 0]

The Parking Lot is Full, always funny, often insightful:

Oh, BTW, which part of GTA requires you to start firing random shots at passing vehicles? I don't remember that being part of nay of the missions, although, admittedly, I never completed the whole game or played vice city yet.

Also, in GTA3, if you start firing randomly at pessersby, there are consequences: i.e. you get arrested or shot by the police. It can hardly be argued that the game "encourages" this action...

[Blake 0]

It's funny that nobody is blaming .22 rifle manufacturer for the killings. And nobody questions why 14-16 year olds were playing with a deadly firearm in the first place! No, it's the video games which pull the trigger...

[theavonlady 2]

I wouldn't totally dismiss blaming violence in games and media. I would attribute them partial blame and video games somewhat more than tv/movies.

Movies fantasize violence, gore and death and these have been taken to the extreme over the last 10-20 years. In many cases, they give violence a certain appeal.

Video games let you play out your wildest fantasies. If a child is immoral and violent prone, this will whet his/her appetite to the max.

And human nature is usually greedy, wanted more but better of the same things that one gets accustomed to and comfortable with.

I believe you'll find much fewer such extreme crimes were committed decades ago. I believe media violence has made a negative difference.

[ralphwiggum 6]

Quote[/b] ]From a wooded area near their home at the Smoky Mountain Country Club, the boys fired a .22-caliber rifle up to 25 times through a break in the trees at cars driving along Interstate 40 about two miles east of Newport. They said they were bored and decided to shoot at tractor-trailer rigs, just like in the video game, ``Grand Theft Auto.''

great job parents of the two assholes. i hope the victims file civil lawsuit against those irresponsible parents and teach them a severe lesson in how to keep firearms away from hands of children. how the fuck did they get to take the damn rifle out anyways?

Quote[/b] ]I believe you'll find much fewer such extreme crimes were committed decades ago. I believe media violence has made a negative difference.

true, but not much. i think the whole desentization is problem, but lack of parental supervision is the key. of course, i believe your kids are not one of trouble makers.

[Major Fubar 0]

I wouldn't totally dismiss blaming violence in games and media. I would attribute them partial blame and video games somewhat more than tv/movies.

Movies fantasize violence, gore and death and these have been taken to the extreme over the last 10-20 years. In many cases, they give violence a certain appeal.

Video games let you play out your wildest fantasies. If a child is immoral and violent prone, this will whet his/her appetite to the max.

And human nature is usually greedy, wanted more but better of the same things that one gets accustomed to and comfortable with.

I believe you'll find much fewer such extreme crimes were committed decades ago. I believe media violence has made a negative difference.

I agree with most of what you say Avon, and I agree that media violence has contributed to the greater crime and violence statistics of recent history.

But I guess my point is that you can't punish innocent people for the violent actions of a very, very small minority. Would you like to have OFP2 pulled form the shelves if some similar incident becomes related to OFP? Say I went postal and shot a bunch of people here (unlikely since I don't own a gun, but lets pretend), and the press got a whiff that the only game installed on my PC is Operation Flashpoint. The public backlash could likely see OFP2 pulled from shelves here when released, or possibly even cancelled. Is that fair? I don't think so.

IMHO, much more directly related and relevant to this incident are the following points:

- What are children this young doing with a firearm? Was it legally owned by the parents or and illegal "street" gun? If it was owned by a parent, was it sufficiently locked away from the children? I am unfamiliar with US gun laws, but in Australia I know it is certainly not legaly for 14 or 15 to own a gun.

- Isn't GTA3 a game that comes with a minimum age for sale? How did these kids get a hold of and play this game? Were the parents aware these kids were playing this "violent" game, or did they just not care?

To say the game was not a contributing factor to the incident would be incorrect, I admit. But to say it is the cause (or to imply it as this article seems to), or even the main factor, is wrong IMHO.

I dunno about anyone else, but I'm pretty sure if I recollect back when I was 14 I had already reached the conclusion that killing people and/or randomly discharging a firearm at passing traffic was wrong.

Anyway, I am very interested to hear more facts about this case - the ownership of the rifle, the history of these kids other misdemeanours, history of abuse or neglect by the parents, and how the kids obtained the game...

[Drill Sergeant 0]

How they obtained the game? Easy just ask mum or daddy to buy it or a cousin or any one. I have a what like a 8 year old cousin that plays GTA3 His dad let's him

play it his mother doesn't know. (Their divorced with child sharing right.) I mean that's when I played it at xmas (For what 1 MINUTE BEFORE  that wining, hitting

brat screamed until I just had to shut the thing of and leave. May I quote him? When I was watching his father proceed in running into a night club? "Show him what you can

do to the girl." Hmm This coming out of an 8 year old?

Seriously folkes my other cousin  bought her, get this, husband the game and a short time later bought another PS2 and a another copy of GTA 3 so they could

both play. Is it just me or is a husband and wife going around the streets in GTA 3 killing each other and engaging in other activities "Normal" entertainment? This is

only rated M so any one looking 17 or being 17 can purchase it. I am rated by my cousins (The husband and wife that play this.)  Terrible because in SWAT 3 I go

and size 12 weapons and secure 4 suspects and some drugs in a night club. All without even using force. So it makes you wonder exactly which side of the virtual

hand cuffs you are viewing it from. I mean and I didn't hurt any one but I get rated as a violent gamer and then she goes of into some lengthy explanation of

exactly how good the graphics are in GTA3 when a 12 gauge hit's some one at point blank in the head. People really need to over view what their children are

playing. OFP is fine there is relatively low gore and it's fun. But we need to remember the people playing GTA3 exactly aren't going to be all that smart. So what

exactly do we expect if mum and dad don't care about what games their children play, do you really think they care about gun safety? Wake up parents.

BTW I'll tell you what after playing RTCW and SOF2 I can't watch gory movies anymore Before about 1 year ago gory movies had no affect on my I was watching

the silence of the lambs series with no problem. I could watch the thin read line all those movies without even flinching. I mean war is something that happens but their

is no NO excuse for things like going out and shooting at trucks and stuff. I couldn't watch the 3d movie of the science of the lambs movie if you paid me those freak

shows just put me on edge. It's really the way you have been raised. After playing the game SOF2 even without any of the gore on I unistalled it and am still trying to

sell it. It just seemed wrong. I guess because of the fact John just started shooting people for no reason in the later cut scenes. As for RTCW (My brother bought

that.) I could just tell their was something wrong with it from the beginning.

With those X creatures and people eating zombies after I found out more about the gameI took it away from my brother.

He than returned it and got Civ 3. I mean in all my years I have seen the games come and go but RTCW with those flesh eating monsters well I couldn't sleep that

night. So really it's what you have been taught. For me I know how to handle fire arms and Weapons. Their not toys and we need to make that clear. Being 15 I

have only two years in as being able to purchase mildly violent games Which I have had OFP since when the gold pack came out. I mean we can't blame the guns or

the games because how did the software get in the house? The gun didn't just load it's self and go of shooting. The children were not trained So really it's parental

misjudgment and not being trained correctly.

Does any one here know what the prize is at the end of GTA3? And how you can get an even bigger bonus?

Just from reading about it I can tell you. You get a super slut and than after you are done with her you can kill her to refund all your money and you get varying

amounts each increasing in how when and were it's all done (The killing.) So luckily these kids didn't get to the end of GTA3 yet. But If this is allowed on the market

to normal children what will come next? We must be vigilant and protect our rights but we can't let this (GTA3) type games continue to be marketed to children.

Please excuse any grammatical errors it's 3:21 am and I had a twelve hour day yesterday.

[theavonlady 2]

It was a bit of a struggle going through your post, Sergeant, but yes, those are good points.

GTA is banned in our house. To the best of my knowledge, only one of my oldest son's friends has it and that's what I would call a mildly problematic home.

And, yes, I agree with your opinion on OFP, though my sons show tinges of potential violence when I tell them they've played OFP long enough and it's time to do something more intellectual.

Happily, BIS has stated in the past that they're not out to enhance the gore factor any further. I hope that holds true for OFP2.

[Shashman 0]

And there are people trying to turn OFP into a GTA-like game  

I mean what about the chainsaw and nailgun? Were they made so that we can build better houses and clear forested areas in OFP? Hmmm...No...They were made to be represented as weapons.(No offense to the person who made these btw)

I'm sure there are more addons that fit in this category...

[Drill Sergeant 0]

I certainly hope you don't throw my knife and spetz natz throwing shovels in thier those were meant to be used by my seals and special forces. (Also I think i was the first to get any type of knife ingame. (PS Throwable knives will come with my weapons pack.)

[Tex -USMC- 0]

Hear that sound? That's Joe Leiberman laughing.

[Renagade 0]

I think other factors are to be considered than just the parents end of the deal in general.

GTA3s a tame game,the gore in it just some splats of blood and maybe a disapearing head at the most.

Quote[/b] ]Just from reading about it I can tell you. You get a super slut and than after you are done with her you can kill her to refund all your money and you get varying

amounts each increasing in how when and were it's all done (The killing.) So luckily these kids didn't get to the end of GTA3 yet. But If this is allowed on the market

u know whats funny about that,i found about that through some shitty tabloid trying to do a scandal article on the game.

What happens is u pick up a hooker and the car starts bouncing and u get more health at the expense of a few dollars.What they`ve done is taken it out of context.

In GTA3 u can whack anyone and usually they`ll drop some cash so put 2 and 2 together and u see where they`ve come up with the wonderful message of "it encourages u to pick up hookers and kill them" when infact the shitty newspapers have actually encouraged ppl to do this

Also what they neglect to mention is that once u start capping ppl the police show up quickly and start shooting going all the way up to the military,though thats when the fun really begins

SOF2 was worse and it was annoying how u couldn`t cap the the civilians in it

Both games are 18 cert,if u want to find out about UK ratings check out my freddy v jason thread that got locked.

Quote[/b] ]Does any one here know what the prize is at the end of GTA3? And how you can get an even bigger bonus?

I think ur a little confused about GTA3, u dont get a "prize" at the end of it,infact most of it is just doing missions with u against other mobs with the end goal of settling t he score with one of ur doublecrossing partners.

[SpecOp9 0]

The headline should actually read like this:

"Man Killed by Teens Who's Parents Never Bothered to Teach Them the Value of Human Life and Basic Moral Values"

...or...

"Man Killed by Teens With Defective Brains Looking to Lay Blame on Something Else - As Per Usual"

...or even...

"Man Killed by Defective Teens - Calls for Human Breeding Licenses Renewed"

...seriously, people have been trying to lay blame on everything else but the real problems forever and a day, if it's not Video games causing kids to kill people, it's roadrunner cartoon making kids drop anvils of bridges or something. You can blame the games or TV or movies or music or whatever else, but most kids know better than to go shooting at people. I'd be very interested in what kind of upbringing these kids had - if I were a gambling man, I'd bet on neglectful parent(s) who let the kids run amok from an early age and never bothered to sufficiently discipline them or teach them core moral values. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that a kid who has been "raised right" knows better than to go shooting at people no matter what they see in a game.

Just another example of how society loves the quick fix, or in this case, the quick blame. Much easier to waggle a finger at a video game manufacturer than to question why parents aren't doing their job at raising their children to be respectful of human life.

Major have I ever told you how much I love you?

Quote[/b] ]And there are people trying to turn OFP into a GTA-like game

lol, hey man that "people" was me

[Renagade 0]

OFP2 could do with SOF2 style body damage

[SpecOp9 0]

Perfect Dark and Goldeneye too. Lovely lovely

[drewb99 0]

Quote[/b] ]Does any one here know what the prize is at the end of GTA3? And how you can get an even bigger bonus?

I think ur a little confused about GTA3, u dont get a "prize" at the end of it,infact most of it is just doing  missions with u against other mobs with the end goal of settling t he score with one of ur doublecrossing partners.

No, you actually get $1,000,000 from the final mission

[GoOB 0]

So we need to opt for games to be clasifed and labled.

In what way will that help? The parents already let their kids buy a game that is clearly labelled not to be played by any children under the age of eightteen. That alone should have told the parents not to buy it for a minor. I hate the way the blame is given on the gaming industry, the parents are responsible for what games/movies or any other form of media they expose their children too. The gaming industry shouldn't be blamed if they label their products with the proper age recommendation.

But labelling games more extensively is a project that PEGI (PEGI) has taken upon themselves. The category "crime" is not yet incorporated, or perhaps it will never be. But the category "war" is there. But I think it just idiotic, parents should look games over before they let their kids play them.

[Tamme 0]

The first FPS I played was Doom, and I was about 6-7 years old. After that I've played violent games all my life. It has never crossed my mind to kill someone or even steal anything. I'm a perfectly moral person. Watching movies like Saving Private Ryan and the Band Of Brothers makes me feel bad. Sometimes killing innocent people in video games doesn't feel right either. If someone is influenced by video games so much that he or she goes on a killing spree, the problems are somewhere else.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

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